MONTICELLO — Supreme Court Justice Stephan Schick ruled on Monday that Joan Buto must go ahead with her assigned sale of the Narrowsburg School to Brendan and Kathleen Weiden.

Earlier this year Buto had outbid the Weidens $751,000 to $742,000 to buy the school and 14 nearby acres from the Sullivan West School District.

In the face of opposition from residents of the hamlet, who objected to her plans to turn the school into a drug and alcohol rehab facility, Buto then approached the Weidens who, with the school board's blessing, agreed to buy out her contract at the bid price of $751,000.

On September 11, the two parties were supposed to formalize the agreement, but the deal fell through when the Weidens did not show up for the closing - an absence caused by a seeming misunderstanding between the lawyers.

Buto left without signing a contract and subsequently changed the terms: instead of reassigning the sales contract, Buto would complete the purchase, then sell it to the Weidens for $1.5 million.

The Weidens' attorney, Larry Wolinsky, advised his clients to reject the offer and told the Democrat, “I advised them [Buto and her legal team] we'd be taking this matter to court to enforce the agreement.”

The paperwork was begun on September 15 after Buto did not respond to an ultimatum to consummate the deal by noon that day.

In his decision, Judge Schick agreed to the Weidens' request for an injunction barring Buto from either closing on the sale or assigning it to another party, and ordered the closing of the assignment to take place on October 6.